The PNWTIRC developed from concerns
expressed by a number of forest geneticists in the region, that research
efforts were not adequately keeping pace with the rapid expansion of applied
breeding programs. In March of 1982, an ad hoc committee was formed with
representatives from four private companies and Oregon State University
(OSU). Their mission was to evaluate the need for additional research and
explore methods of organizing it.

Based on an informal survey of
current tree improvement research in the region and the results of a questionnaire
by the Northwest Seed Orchard Managers Association, the committee concluded
that additional tree improvement research was indeed needed to augment ongoing
programs. Furthermore, the committee concluded that formation of a research
cooperative was the best way to help meet this need. They believed that
the funding could probably be secured, despite the poor economic conditions
at the time, because many organizations in the region were already strongly
committed to tree improvement. It was recognized that further delay in acquiring
needed information would only lead to inefficiencies in breeding programs
in the future and less revenue from tree improvement than anticipated.

A proposal for a cooperative
to be centered at OSU was developed by the ad hoc committee and circulated
among forestry organizations throughout the Pacific Northwest in October
of 1982. Extensive review of the proposal occurred over the next six months,
culminating at a public forum held in Corvallis on March 18, 1983.

Response to the proposal from
many public and private forestry organizations was enthusiastic, so on July
1, 1983, the PNWTIRC was officially established. The membership includes
representatives from public agencies and private forestry companies in western
Oregon, western Washington, and coastal British Columbia.